SOUTH COAST REPERTORY : CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : ‘Folk Tales’ Another Hit for Kimberly

Some may remember Kimberly Kay from last year’s South Coast Repertory Youth Conservatory Players’ production of John Glore’s “Wind of a Thousand Tales,” in which she found her imagination with the help of a breeze who told stories.

She’s back.

“Folk Tales, Too,” also by Glore, opened at SCR over the weekend as part of its California Play Festival. This time around, we find Kimberly up in the attic of her home after an argument with her dad. Before long, she’s dreaming up little tales which--stitched together into an hourlong comic-drama--provide a tapestry of ideas that helps her understand her father’s anger, and her love for him.

This is an intricate adventure of the sort rarely seen in children’s theater. Director Diane Doyle says that it is meant to be provocative entertainment for children aged 10 and older. “I wanted to keep it very real if I could,” says Doyle, who directed the cast of four youngsters and seven adults. “I didn’t want to blow up the ideas dramatically and make it burlesque just to make it understandable for the 5-year-old.”

Sometimes it is hard to follow. But it makes for dazzlingly clever, entertaining theater. As the newly imaginative Kimberly, Nicole Parker is effervescent and never misses a beat. The other players are bright and convincing, the pacing is quick and professional, and Glore’s script is as sparkling and real as a hushed conversation between best friends.

Up in the attic, Kimberly has decided to run away from home and is scrounging for things to take with her. She is startled by Bluster, the story-telling breeze from the last play. She tells him that her father is angry at her for messing up his den, and that she is about to take off with her imaginary friend, Crayola.

“Crayola’s going through a denial thing right now,” Kimberly explains. “She says I’m the one who is imagining.”

Bluster encourages Kimberly to cope with her troubles by telling her own tales. Inspired by American folktales, they are punctuated by folk songs composed by Diane King, who scored “Wind of a Thousand Tales”--and, like Bluster, they should fire your child’s imagination. If some of the subtleties are missed, that’s OK. Young viewers can fill in the blanks with their own flights of fancy. That’s what Bluster would do.

“Folk Tales, Too,” part of SCR’s California Play Festival, will be repeated Saturday and Sunday, May 13 and 14, at 1 and 3:30 p.m. in Founder’s Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Tickets, $6 each, are available at the SCR box office, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Information: (714) 957-4033.